How is hunting rain gear supposed to be like?

There are some specific things to look for when shopping for good rain hunting gear.

Good rain gear for hunting is, stands to reason, waterproof. Take care when you look for this label as nowadays this is used too often and doesn’t specifically mean it’s true. Along with the term “waterproof”, your hunting gear has to be “water repellent” and “water resistant”. Only when you see all of these features on your gear you may be sure that it is indeed waterproof.

If you look at a jacket that is water repellent coated, then it means this jacket is chemically treated so that it keeps water away from absorbing into the fabric and makes the water run off. This is temporary though and in time a lot of leaking might happen.

When your gear is labeled “water resistant” it means that your gear is made of tightly woven fabrics with some polyurethane coating. You are protected in light rain but you get soaked wet in pouring rain…

Only “waterproof” hunting gear keeps you 100% dry. This kind of gear keeps you dry in extreme conditions and high pressures and is also able to stop the water entering your gear at seams, hems, sleeve openings and so on. This is the true waterproof hunting gear. This kind of waterproofing lowers the comfort level though, and you need to give a good thought on what’s the most important thing to you: comfort or staying dry.

If you typically hunt, hike or trail run, you know that “breathable” is another quality to look for in your hunting gear. This feature is essential to any kind of gear worn in physical activity and it means it keeps you comfortable and dry even when you sweat. The “breathable” hunting gear lets your sweat evaporate through fabric into the air. Traditional rain gear is not very breathable and finding good breathable rain gear is important when hiking or hunting in warm weather.

Don’t forget that your camo/hunting rain gear also needs to be quiet. Whereas a typical rain jacket is tough and it crinkles, cracks and pops, this is not something you want when deer hunting, for instance. So the manufacturers struggled to apply special fabrics on top of the rain shells to soften down the sounds. You need to test your hunting gear both in dry and wet conditions. You don’t want to startle your prey after waiting in pouring rain for hours…

Your hunting rain gear has also to be packable. When you wear many layers, last thing you want is carry around your rain jacket as it’s too heavy. So you need to have a good, easy to pack rain gear as you simply want to be prepared for the rain. The rain hunting gear has to fold and compress down easily so that it takes only a bit of the space of your backpack.

How to take care of your hunting rain gear

No matter how high quality your hunting gear might be, heavy wear makes the DWR coating to wear off. Your hunting gear takes not only the rain, but also the skin oil, sweat and dirt. Once these get into the membrane of your gear, the features of your rain gear begin to fade. Your rain gear begins to smell and doesn’t keep you dry as it uses to be.

You know that your rain hunting gear is not good as new anymore when your skin feels a bit clammy under the fabric and the gear feels heavyweight. Your gear still performs well but there are two things that you can do to improve its performances.

You need to wash your hunting rain gear, accordingly to the instructions from the tag, exactly how it says. Go for Nikwax Tech Wash and not the typical detergent. Simply add the Tech Wash in the machine, along your gear and use a cold-water wash on a gentle cycle. Rinse the hunting gear with water after the wash and tumble it dry, on low heat.

To revive your gear’s DWR you can apply a spray or put the product into the ways with your rain gear. There are products that need to be added to a clean load and you just throw it into the dryer, the low or medium heat setting to revive the water-repellent feature of your rain hunting gear.

One last word

Try to avoid washing too often your hunting rain gear as waterproofness and breathability fade away because of that. Wash it only when it’s completely necessary and take care of it as much as you can.

You can machine wash this jacket, but do not bleach and only tumble dry

It comes in Gear Mossy Oak Infinity camo pattern that gives you a good blending into surroundings

This 3 in 1 parka hunting jacket is versatile and quiet

The fabric is soft and comfortable

The jacket is lightweight and yet keeps you very warm

The zipped upper pockets give plenty of space for storing some items

The bottom pockets are dual pockets

The hood protects well against snow, rain and wind

There is an elastic draw string for an easy adjustment

The front zipper is heavy duty

The liner is removable so you can wear the jacket both when it’s very cold or warm outside

The jacket is comfortable

The liner is also machine washable

When we talk about the down sides, it’s good to know they are not deal breakers, but still worth to mention:

The jacket could be more quiet than it is at the moment

The hood is not insulated, thus unable to keep you warm

It’s a bit weird to remove the liner

Either than this, we have no other complaints. This is a 3-in-1 parka hunting jacket that manages to do many things, for a good price, when you come to think of it.

Your hunting rain gear has to include good rain hunting pants. You should give it a try with these Arctic Shield QuietTech Pants that are waterproof, more than anything else.

Here are the pros, from our point of view:

The pants are waterproof and windproof at the same time

These are a great option for the very cold weather since they keep you very warm

The pants are made with ArcticShield thermal technology

They are not bulky

The pants are built with multi-layered heat-resistant thermal technique

The pants are thin and tough, just as well

There are two hand warmer pockets

The pants feature leg zippers with storm flaps

It’s comfortable to wear these thanks to the elastic waist band

You can machine wash the pants

The pants are very quiet, even on the smallest moves

There is great design, built and appearance to these pants

The pants give a great fit and feel lightweight

As they are great when it comes to waterproofness and protection against the wind, we can’t say the same thing about the breathability. Unfortunately, the pants don’t breathe very well and maintain the moisture inside.